Stress has been identified as a major barrier to engaging in healthy lifestyle behaviors
(e.g. diet and exercise) among African American women. African American women consistently
lose less weight than their Caucasian counterparts in weight loss interventions. One reason
for this disparity may be due to the failure of most weight loss interventions to address
stress management adequately or in a culturally competent way.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of a stress-focused tailored weight
loss intervention compared to a standard weight loss intervention on weight loss in severely
obese (BMI > 40.0) African American women. The stress-focused weight loss intervention will
incorporate stress management content throughout the entire intervention and will include
content that is culturally tailored. The standard weight loss intervention will cover stress
management techniques during one of the 14 sessions and the material will be more generic in
nature (e.g. not culturally tailored).

Conditions

Obesity

Keywords

African American, Women, Weight Loss

Source

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Sponsors

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics